Sergei holds his hands up. “I was on a smoke break. That’s my story.”
“If you shoot me in the back when I walk in there, you better kill me.”
Sergei’s face goes ghostly pale.
My reputation has its benefits.
I push into the bar, keeping my back to the wall as I stalk down the hallway. From the main room, men laugh and cheer. A bottle smashes. Somebody shouts something in Russian.
So far, so good.
I round the corner that leads to Nikolai’s office.
Stop dead in my tracks.
A big bear of a man, wearing a T-shirt with a white skull on it, coarse hair covering his arms, standing at the edge of the hallway. Sharpening a knife that looks like a toy in his hands. Artem, one of the most fucked-up men in the Bratva, the sort of prick who’d jump at the chance to do what Nikolai tried to force me to do.
My heart pounds loudly in my ears.
Before Rose, I’d turn back. There’s a long corridor between us. If I just shoot him in the head, I’ll lose the surprise factor I’ve managed to create for myself, so far.
I picture Rose, her dress clinging to her curvy form. The furrow in her brow as she determinedly digs for the pool. The passion in her voice when she talks about fulfilling her mother’s dream.
Then I duck my head and run like a bull.
Artem roars when he hears my footsteps. Raises his gun.
Before he can fire a shot, I grab his wrist.Crack. Bone snaps as I wrench him upward, then I headbutt him so hard I see stars.
He drops like a sack of potatoes. If he was anybody else, maybe I’d give him a chance to live. Tie him up and go on with my work. But Artem is the goddamn devil. And there’s no quit in him.
I take the knife he was just sharpening and do my bloody work. A savage slice from ear to ear that leaves the floor red. And adds one more death onto my already crowded tally.
I don’t wait to see if anybody heard. Can only pray the noise in the main room is loud enough to cover the sound of the fight.
Up the stairs, I aim my gun. Round another corner. The hallway leading to Nikolai’s office is quiet.
This is damn good luck.
A thought strikes me like a bolt of lightning.
Not luck—Rose.
We’re meant to be together. Fate is helping us along.
I stalk down the hallway, pause outside the office. From inside, I hear Nikolai’s voice. A vicious growl. Heavy with entitlement. The voice of a man who was born into Bratva royalty and never had to claw his way up.
Not like me. He never had to walk through Hell just to make a living.
“If you’re extra nice, I’ll even give you a bonus.”
A woman’s voice responds, taut and terrified,“Please don’t do this.”
“It’s already done …”
He’s right. Just not in the way he thinks.
I kick open the office door and leap across the room.
